Freezing tray



April 27, 1943. w SAMPSON 2,317,646

FREEZ ING TRAY Filed April 7, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Q Frederzb/r WSanpusan N I 5 Mr M ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 27, 1943,

.UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE FREEZING TRAY Frederick W. Sampson, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich,

a corporation of Delaware Application April 7, 1941, Serial No. 387,143

4 Claims.

such a mechanical grid which is highly eiiieientv in use and which is very economical to manufacture due to the simple stamping operations necessary to make the parts.

A special feature of the grid of this invention is itsready method of assembling same into a self-retaining whole simply by sliding the various parts into interfitting relation with each other. This feature permits the grid to be easily and quickly taken apart by the household user thereof in order to thoroughly clean same, after which it can be very readily reassembled by the user.

In some respects this grid is similar to that disclosed in Patent No. 2,143,977 issued January 17, 1939, however one object of this invention is to provide a grid having the following specific advantages:

(1) In the grid of this invention the main longitudinal wall comprises two metal plates which lie in substantial face to face contact thruout their normal water-immersed portions during freezing whereby all waste ice is avoided, and also whereby no large inaccessible waste space is left between these two metal plates for the accumulation of lime or other foreign matter.

(2) The cross walls of the grid of this inven- Fig. 2 is a. section on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of Fig. 2.

.Fig. 4 is a. detail face view of one of the metal plates forming the main center wall of the grid.

Fig. 5 is a detail face view of one of the cross walls.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 65 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a section on line '|'I of Fig. 2 and shows the grid parts in freezing position.

Fig. 8 is similar to Fig. 7, but shows the grid parts with the center wall fully flexed to release the ice blocks on both sides thereof.

- Fig. 9 is a section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 2. and shows how the'two'center plates'are held in face to face contact over their unslotted lower areas.

Similar reference-characters refer tosimilar I parts throughout the several views.

tion may extend the full depth of the longitu-.

dinal wall, and each cross wall has a recess in its upper margin which serves as a centering bearing for the actuating spreader bar during operation thereof. This insures that, during the spreading apart by flexure of the two metal plates forming the main wall, each of said two Numeral l0 designates a. somewhat flexible pressed sheet metal pan whose inclined side walls II have such fiexibility'that they will readily yield outwardly a slight. amount when -.the ice blocks are forced laterally thereagainst during the operation of thedevice, as hereinafter described. Pan |0 preferably has one cornerof its bottom wall slightly raised in order to provide an open space |2 which will permit any suitable tool or hand lever to be inserted therein by the operator for the purposeof prying the pan loose from its frozen bond to its shelf upon which it sets during freezing.

The structure of the removable grid |5 will now be described. The main or center wall 20 is made from two separate plates 2| which are preferably stamped out from sheet metal to the form shown in Figs. 4 and 6. The cross walls 25 are preferably stamped out from sheet metal to the form shown in Fig. 5 and have lower slots 26 extending upwardly from their bottom edges. The two metal plates 2| each have a series of slots 22 extending thru their upper edges and downward to the points 23 which are preferably about midway the vertical distance between their bottom edges and the normal water level in the tray. However these points 23 may be somewhat higher or lower than as shown in the drawings since the particular depth of slots 22 is not critical for the design of this grid. Each metal plate" ing of these two plates 2| together they will easily spring together sufficiently to permit their lower unslotted areas 24 to come into substantial face to face contact. When this is done the various cross walls 25 may then he slipped downward thru the aligned slots 22 in the two plates 2| so that their unslotted areas 24 will enter the slots 25 in cross walls 25 and thus the two metal plates 2| will be retained clamped together by cross walls 25, as best shown in Fig. 7. It will be noted that the tendency of the two plates 2| to spring back to their unstressed bowed form (shown in Fig. 6) will cause a considerable outward lateral pressure of the flat unslotted areas 24 upon the fiat vertical edges of slots 26, and that. this pressure will cause the cross walls 25 to normally maintain a perpendicular position to the double center wall 20. Thus all the cross walls 25 will assume and yieldably retain a position at right angles to the center wall even tho said cross walls may be of sheet metal of quite small thickness. It will also be noted that the tendency of the two plates 2| to spring back to their unstressed bowed form will cause cross walls 25 and the two center plates to be all held together with a tight non-rattling fit, nevertheless these parts may be readily assembled together or disassembled by the user simply by sliding these parts together or apart, as described above.

After the cross walls 25 have been assembled with the two plates 2| as above described, the two cam-shaped spreader bars 40 are inserted endwise into the longitudinally extending opening between the upper margins of the two plates 2|. Preferably the upper margins of these two opposed plates 2| are shaped as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 to provide a longitudinally extending fiat-section channel 4| within which the flatsection spreader bar 40 fits snugly when the parts are in freezing position as shown in Fig. 7. The two spreader bars 40 are identical in form, and are each inserted endwise into the channel 4| from opposite ends of the grid until they abut approximately at the grid center. Each bar 40 has an integral crank-handle 42 by means of which it may be readily rotated about its axis thru an angle of 90 degrees and thereby distort and spread apart the upper slotted portions of the two plates 2|,as illustrated in Fig. 8. If desired, these upper slotted portions 30 may each be somewhat stiffened by forming in the metal thereof the small vertically-extending beads or ridges 3|, which should not extend below the points 23 which mark the horizontal boundary line between the upper slotted portions 30 and the lower unslotted portions 24 of the two metal plates 2|.

Each cross wall 25 has at its upper central portion a cut-out recess 45 which is of just sufflcient width to receive the spreader bar when its wide dimension is in its horizontal position as shown in Fig. 8. Thus it is seen that these recesses or notches in the cross walls 25 will serve as positive centering bearings for the spreader bars 40 during rotation thereof to eject the ice blocks. This positive centering action will insure that each one of any pair of opposed flexible portions 30 of the two plates 2| will be forced outwardly an equal amount by the spreading action of bar 40, and hence insures that the ice blocks on both sides of the center wall of the grid will always be released. Without such positive centering bearings for spreader bar 40, it has been found that all of the required relative spreading movement between a pair of flexible portions 30 sometimes occurs by one side remaining stationary and the other side moving twice the normal distance, and this results of course in the ice blocks on one side of the center wall remaining stuck to the grid.

In operation, the fully assembled grid I5 is inserted loosely in pan l0 either before or after said pan has been filled with water to the desired level, which level is limited only by the top edges of pan l0. After the ice is hard frozen in any suitable freezing chamber, the tray and contents are removed therefrom and the operator then forces preferably only one of the crank handles 42 down to rotate one of the spreader bars 40 and thereby flex some of the upper slotted portions 30 of the two metal plates 2| laterally outwardly. This forces the ice blocks laterally with a high force against the somewhat flexibleinclined side walls ll of pan l0, which cause said walls to bow outwardly a small amount and the ice blocks to be loosened therefrom and to ride upwardly along said inclined side walls. If

it is desired to remove only two ice blocks at a time, one of the spreader bars 40 may be pulled from its channel 4| until it extends therein only far enough to spread only the endmost pair of flexible portions 30 of the center wall and thereby loosen only the two endmost ice blocks from the grid at one operation. In a similar manner two, four, six, or more ice blocks may be removed at one operation of the device simply by inserting the spreader bar 40 into its channel 4| the distance required to engage and spread the desired number of pairs of flexible portions 30 of the center wall. If it is desired to remove all the ice blocks at one operation, the tray and contents are preferably set upon a table and the two cranks 42 forced downwardly with the two hands to rotate the two spreader bars 40 in opposite directions to loosen all the ice blocks.

Since the two cranks 42 extend in opposite directions the two twisting torques tending to overturn the entire tray and contents during such operation of the device will balance each other.

Obviously, if desired, a single spreader bar 40 which extends the whole length of the grid could be used instead of the two spreader bars described above, and the operation of the device would remain substantially the same.

If desired, the grid together with all the ice blocks may be removed from pan It by any well known means, and then the grid operated as described above to loosen the ice blocks therefrom. The flat non-tapered section cross walls 25 will permit the ice blocks to be loosened and slide laterally outward due to the force applied by the spreader bar 40, however these cross walls 25 will normally press upon the sides of these loosened ice blocks sufflciently to prevent them from falling from the grid by gravity but will readily permit them to be picked from the grid with the fingers.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is tobe understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A partitioning grid for a freezing tray, said grid comprising: a main double wall comprising two resilient metal plates retained clamped together when the grid parts are in freezing position but having an inherent tendency to spring apart by bowing outwardly at their central portions, said main wall having a series of slots in the upper portion thereof, a series of cross walls each extending loosely thru one of said slots in said main wall, said cross walls each having a lower slot therein extending upwardly from its lower edge and embracing the lower portions of said two metal plates in such manner as to clamp same together in opposition to their said inherent tendency to bow apart at their central portions,

and force-multiplying means for spreading apart the upper portions of said two resilient metal plates by fiexure occurring above the lower clamped portions thereof to facilitate the removal of frozen ice blocks from said grid.

2. In combination, a partitioning grid for a freezing tray, said grid having: a main double wall comprising two resilient metal plates positioned in face to face contact when the grid parts are in freezing position, a series of cross walls extending transversely of said main wall to form partition walls of the grid, said cross walls having means for clamping together only the lower portions of said two metal plates, the upper portions of said metal plates being left free to bespread laterally apart by flexure thereof, and force-multiplying means for spreading apart only the upper portions of said two metal plates by fiexure occurring above the lower clamped portions thereof to facilitate the removal of frozen ice from the grid.

3. In combination, a partitioning grid for a freezing tray, said grid having: a main double wall comprising two resilient metal plates positioned in face to face contact when the grid parts are in freezing position; said main wall having a series of longitudinally spaced slots therein, a series of cross walls each extending thru one of said slots in said main wall, said cross walls each having a lower slot therein extending part way up from the lower edge thereof, said lower slots in said cross walls having such a tight fit upon only the lower portions of 10 said two metal plates as to retain said cross walls in proper freezing position transverse said main wall, the upper portions of said metal plates being left free to be spread apart by flexure of the metal thereof, and force-multiplying means 5 for flexing apart only the upper portions of said two metal plates tofacilitate the removal of frozen ice blocks from the grid. 4. A partitioning grid for a freezing tray, said grid comprising: a slotted main double wall com- 20 prising two metal plates having approximately the lower half of their water-immersed portions held clamped into substantial face toface contact, a series of cross walls each extending thru a slot in said main wall, said cross walls each 25 having a slot in the lower portion thereof which fits tightly upon and clamps together approximately said lower halves of said two metal plates, and force-multiplying means for flexing laterally apart only the upper portions of said two metal 30 plates for breaking loose and forcing the frozen ice blocks laterally outward from said main wall.

FREDERICK W. SAMPSON. 

